Head of Strategy & Operations

Deliberate AI | Hybrid (NYC or Boston) | Full-Time

About Deliberate AI

We're a venture-backed company at the frontier of precision mental health. In partnerships with some of the world's top ranked medical schools and psychiatric hospitals, we've secured non-dilutive funding from the NIH, ARPA-H, DARPA, the FDA and the Wellcome Trust. We're deploying multimodal AI systems in clinical trials and healthcare settings across four continents — and we're hiring the team to build what comes next.

About the Role

Deliberate AI is a company that does several things at once: we run federally funded clinical research programs across multiple continents, build production AI systems for mental health assessment, manage pharmaceutical partnerships, and support a fast-growing hybrid team — all with the operational infrastructure of an early-stage startup. The gap between what we're doing and how organized we are about it is where this role lives.

You'll be the person who turns strategy into execution and makes sure the operational machinery keeps pace with the science and engineering. That means financial planning and cash management, coordinating cross-team execution against research milestones and product deadlines, managing legal and HR operations, and supporting business development with healthcare systems and pharmaceutical partners. You'll work directly with the CEO and touch every part of the company — not as a coordinator, but as the operational leader who owns the outcome when something needs to get planned, tracked, staffed, or closed.

This is a permanent leadership role. As the company scales to 20+ people over the next 18 months, you'll build the operational foundation that makes that growth sustainable — and grow with it.

Who You Are

You're a structured thinker who learned to be scrappy. You probably spent 3–5 years at a top-tier management consulting firm — McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or equivalent — where you developed the analytical rigor to decompose ambiguous problems into workable plans. But you left (or are leaving) because you want to own the execution, not just the slide deck. You're energized by variety: a morning reviewing a clinical trial budget, an afternoon negotiating a vendor contract, and an evening prepping a board update doesn't feel scattered to you — it feels like the job. You have strong commercial instincts and you're drawn to healthcare because the stakes are real.

What You'll Do

• Strategy & Planning: Conduct market research and competitive intelligence to inform strategic decisions. Translate strategy into action plans with clear owners and timelines. Track execution across research and product teams and work with the CEO to resolve blockers
  
• Financial Management: Own FP&A — budgets, financial forecasts, cash burn monitoring, and financial reporting to the CEO and board. Manage accounting operations (billing, invoicing, collections) and oversee outsourced financial resources
  
• Business Development: Support pivotal BD activities across research and product teams. Identify and develop new opportunities with healthcare systems, clinical research organizations, and pharmaceutical customers
  
• Legal & Compliance Operations: Work with external counsel to ensure contracts are in place across employees, contractors, suppliers, and customers. Ensure the business meets all regulatory requirements and maintains appropriate insurance
  
• People Operations: Implement recruitment, compensation, development, and retention processes. Ensure the team functions effectively as we scale.
  
• Grant & Contract Operations: Support coordination of ARPA-H, NIH, and other federal grant milestones — tracking deliverables, managing subcontractor relationships, and ensuring compliant reporting
  

Growth trajectory: This role is the operational backbone of Deliberate AI. As the company grows, it grows into a VP of Operations or COO seat — or into whichever leadership function you've made most your own.

You may be a good fit if you:

• Have 3–5 years of experience at a top-tier management consulting firm (McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or equivalent) with exposure to healthcare, life sciences, or technology sectors
  
• Have a track record of leading cross-functional projects from strategy through execution — not just analysis, but implementation
  
• Are strong in financial modeling and FP&A — comfortable building budgets, forecasts, and scenario analyses from scratch
  
• Have experience with or strong interest in business development — identifying opportunities, shaping partnerships, and supporting deal execution
  
• Bring excellent written and verbal communication skills — you can draft a board memo, a contract summary, and a team update in the same afternoon
  
• Are comfortable with ambiguity and context-switching — you thrive when the job description changes week to week because the company is moving fast
  
• Hold a relevant PhD or an MBA from a top-tier business school (or equivalent depth of business training)
  

Strong candidates may also:

• Have direct experience in healthcare, life sciences, or clinical research — either through consulting engagements or an operational role
  
• Have worked at a startup or high-growth company in an operations or chief of staff capacity
  
• Have experience managing government-funded R&D programs including milestone tracking, subcontractor management, and compliance reporting
  
• Have exposure to legal operations — vendor contracts, employment agreements, IP, or regulatory compliance
  
• Have experience with pharma or medical device clinical trials from a commercial, operations, or strategy perspective
  

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $140,000 – $180,000 (commensurate with experience, qualifications, and location)
  
• Early-stage equity with meaningful ownership — you're joining at a stage where individual grants are substantial
  
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
  
• 401(k) with company match
  
• Flexible PTO policy
  
• Exposure to every function of a fast-growing health-tech company — this is an accelerated path to operational leadership
  

Location: This is a hybrid role. We work in-person roughly 50% of the time in NYC or Boston — this is how we build culture and solve hard problems together as an early, fast-growing team. Candidates should be based in or willing to relocate to one of these cities.

Work authorization: Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. We welcome applicants who hold US citizenship, permanent residency, or existing work authorization including H-1B (transfer-eligible), OPT/STEM OPT, or TN visa (Canadian and Mexican citizens). If you already hold an H-1B, we will sponsor your green card if desired but we are not currently able to sponsor new H-1B petitions.

Deliberate AI evaluates candidates based on merit, qualifications, and the skills needed to succeed in the role.